Videos of the Week

@billmaher & @janemarielynch Read "The Weinerlogues"

@IAMSEANGARRETT feat @rickyrozay - In Da Box (video)

@Eminem & @therealroyce59 Perform Lighters at @bonnaroo

@NEWBOYZ feat @ChrisBrown - Better With the Lights Off (video)

@timwestwood interview with @Yelawolf before his performance with Wu Tang in the UK

@RYANLESLIE Performs Joan of Arc at the Apple store on 14th Street in New York City

"Treat My Whip Like My Sneakers, Once I Scuff 'Em it's Nothin'"

The only thing harder than finding Osama is this @SMOKEDOUTLUGER beat. Good god almighty this one begs you to turn it up and sing along with @IAMSEANGARRETT on the hook, encouraging you to keep up with the stuttered repetition of "baby, baby, baby" that lead into the less-than-subtle lyrics. There's never been a question as to whether or not Sean Garrett, aka "Smash on the radio bet I penned it", can produce hits for other artists. Whether or not he's able to channel that success for others into being able to market himself is another story...and I'm diggin' the first few chapters.

Chalk this up as the second official single off his upcoming 2011 release, Courtesy Of. Call it a strip club anthem with the 808 bass and King of Diamonds references, I call it one hell of a follow up single to add to his first effort, Feel Love feat @JColeNC. In other words, for an R&B track, this one beats in the deck and you shouldn't feel guilty at all rollin' the windows down...#IWont

As a sidebar, can someone explain to me why exactly @rickyrozay is so widely sought out and hot right now? He's damn near become @liltunechi with all the features he's being doin', plus he captured @Wale and flipped his style 180. You'll be hard pressed to find me a more new school classic Hip Hop album than Port of Miami, but did y'all really like Teflon Don that much? #MaybeItsMe?

Sean Garrett feat Rick Ross - In Da Box (prod by Lex Luger)

"If They Try and Tell Me Time is Money, I'll Spend it With You"

Nice R&B collabo between singer/producer Sean Garrett and ya boy Drizzy Drake. Since no one recognizes that Sean Garrett has produced 15 #1 singles (currently good for 5th place on Billboard's list of producers with the most #1 singles), I hope that his upcoming second album, Courtesy Of, blows up.

Real relate-able track as @SG harmonizes about that special feelin' ya get when you first trip, stumble and eventually fall in love and wanna tell errrbody 'bout it. I'm liking a lot of this R&B stuff he's been puttin' out of late and starting to think he could probably pull off a front to back R&B album. I guess the trial run will be his upcoming mixtape due out "very soon". On par with about any other cameo he's made, @DRAKKARDNOIR manages to always steal the show with one line(s) on the track that sticks with you...that line you hear, rewind, and take a sec to wrap your mind around what he's trying to articulate. On this track it's the line:

“Just keep fightin’ for our lovin’,
Baby I’ll defend it too,
And if they try and tell me time is money I’d spend it with you”

Pretty cool his Thank Me Later album only took 5 weeks to go platinum and this week he was honored to gain his millionth Twitter follower.

Don't even begin to try and sleep on Sean Garrett because he'd be stupid not to save some of those platinum singles for himself on his own album. Whether you realize it or not his presence is being felt in your stereo right now with tracks like Get It All and Massive Attack with @nickiminaj. Hopefully Courtesy Of lives up the extremely high bar he has set for himself with his previous success as a producer.

Give it a listen...

Sean Garrett feat Drake - Feel the Love
| Download

New Artist Spotlight - Sean Garrett

This post is a little misleading in that there isn't much new about Sean Garrett, other than him finally deciding to crank out a few singles for himself. He's considered somewhat of a legend as far as writing and producing songs the past seven years. Folks break out the Adderall cause you're about to get learned with a history lesson on your boy Sean here.

Let's start with writing and production credits, I'm going to list a top 10 (this post would be waaay too long if I listed them all). I'll list them in bullet format for emphasis:

1. Usher feat Lil Jon-  Yeah!
2. Beyonce - Diva, Ring the Alarm, Get Me Bodied, Upgrade U, Check On It
3. Chris Brown - Run It, Gimme That, Wall to Wall
   
4. Ciara - Goodies
5. Nelly feat Paul Wall - Grillz
6. Jamie Foxx - DJ Play a Love Song
7. Fergie - London Bridge
8. Pussycat Dolls feat Snoop - Buttons
9. Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)
10. Ludacris feat Chris Brown - What Them Girls Like (notice the initial shout out by Luda for SG?) 

Do I have your attention now? Yea, needless to say when Jay-Z nicknames you "The Pen" for writing so many hits, you know you're doin' sumthin' right.

Sidebar: What has always and will continue to baffle my mind is how all these legendary writers, demo singers and producers never get the credit they deserve for being instrumental (literally) in most of these hits. It's like giving all the credit to the players and completely disregarding the Coach and General Manager's role in the success of a team. Maybe I value creativity and intellect over god given ability, which is why I'm forever in the corner of the unsung heroes (producers, writers) of the music industry, but in my opinion they deserve just as much if not more for the finishing product.

Back on subject, I bet you didn't know that Sean has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, most recently with his work on Beyonce's I Am Sasha Fierce album. He's also got a pretty recognizable tag line in many songs, most memorable in Chris Brown's - Wall to Wall...

"Smash on the radio, bet I penned it..."


Previously unheard of legendary Ghostwriters like Ne-Yo and Ryan Tedder have managed to step out of the shadows into the limelight to create a name for their own music lately and I'm hoping Sean Garrett is able to do the same for himself. He's got the right frame of mind going into the album, calling himself an "underdog" and noting that "Sean Garrett as an artist is what fans are missing". On the flip side, he's got the swagger and confidence of a seasoned industry vet, exclaiming in his own Terrell Owens sort of way that:

"I'm a f---ing superstar artist/writer/producer, and I will give my fans what they want and what they're asking me to give them: a phenomenal album. I'm the underdog, man, I can't go wrong. I got nothing to lose. Underdogs can't lose." - Sean Garrett

Definitely not short on confidence and after writing so many hits for other artists you can understand why he is so confident in his abilities.

Below you'll see three of my favorite new songs of his. The first being the lead single with Gucci Mane off the aforementioned upcoming solo album. Described by MTV as "a hypnotic chorus over a sneakily insidious snare beat and a hook that instantly grabs your ears", I can't disagree, I couldn't have put it better and definitely sold this one short on last month's Song List I released. I've never been a fan on Gucci Mane, but I am a HUGE fan of Shondrae Mr. Bangladesh Crawford, feel free to check out his growing list of production credits here. He's one of the few producers these days that is not afraid to let loose the gorillas in the trunk, but not at the expense of ruining the track with bass (see Lil Wayne - A Milli). I'll admit, I always thought that beat was overplayed a bit by everyone in Hip Hop...buuuut...after hearing A Milli live in concert I was taken aback (literally) by the elegance of the low bass exploding from the speakers. True beauty...but before I get off subject again, check out Sean Garrett's new upcoming single...

Sean Garrett feat Gucci Mane - Up In Your Heart (prod by Bangladesh)


Just in case you thought his tracks would be dominated by show stopping beats, here's great example of his vocal ability. His soft vocals go well over the rolling percussion of the beat. This is more of demo track since it's a lil' heavy on the instrumental and light on the vocals, but it's got serious potential. How about him gettin' after those vocals with a little intensity at the 3:05 mark of the song. Goodness...the man knows how to create catchy material, check it out...

Sean Garrett - Throw Me To The Wind


I'll leave you with a bubbly trunk rattler orchestrated by Bang-la-dash(board) with Yung Joc. Bubble gum lyrics aside, this one begs you to play it loud and enjoy the repro-con-cussions. Give it a listen and next time you hear Sean Garrett's name, sing his praises so he can become another household R&B name rather than a mythical behind the scenes writer...

Sean Garrett feat Yung Joc - Smooches (prod by Bangladesh)